Anju Jain made her international debut in 1993 and was one of the very few cricketers to have a career for more than ten years. A pretty handy batter, Jain’s USP was her wicket-keeping. Her footwork stood out, and her love for the straight drive is a different story altogether. She always was ready to take the aerial route but knew to keep things quiet when needed. Overall, she was an inspiration for many of the young girls back in India while growing up.
My best memory was watching her stand close to the stumps for Jhulan Goswami who was at her prime. Goswami would reach 115-120 with ease, and It was certainly one of the difficult jobs, but Jain made it look easier. She converted most of the half-chances, and even today, she has the most number of dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper.
She represented the team in 65 ODIs, eight Tests and is the only Indian wicketkeeper to captain the team and open the batting at the same time.
Captaining India in seven matches, she led the team in the 2000 World Cup where the team reached the semifinal. Despite playing four consecutive World Cups, her best performance came in 2005 where the Indian team ended as the runners up.
After her retirement in 2005, She coached several domestic teams and also Bangladesh. Under her guidance, Bangladesh became the only team to defeat India in the Asia Cup and won the cup for the first time. On their way, they also defeated Pakistan. 2018 was one of the best years for Bangladesh.
However, Bangladesh failed to make an impact in the recently concluded World Cup and right after her contract got over, she decided to quit. She currently appointed as the coach of Baroda women’s team.
India is yet to find a replacement for Jain. The void she left was huge that since her retirement, many keepers represented the side, but none of them came close. While we do have Taniya Bhatia and Sushma Verma doing good currently, they still have a long way to go.
